Settling on dream unit

114/184 Symonds Street. Photo / Supplied

As students, Emad Khan and Haseeb Mehta always liked the look of the Citta apartment building.

They lived in student accommodation back then."We used to walk past the Citta building and wish and hope that we could end up living there," says Emad.

The couple, now business owners, saved hard and one day everything fell into place.

FOR MORE PROPERTY NEWS AND LISTINGS GO TO ONEROOF.CO.NZ

They saw a two-bedroom apartment for sale, fell in love with it and bought it. "Dreams do come true, that's for sure," says Emad.

That was "11 wonderful years" ago. One of the things they loved was the great use of space.

They had looked at apartments in the city but had found most of them rectangular and boxy, says Emad.

But this one felt more like a single storey home than an apartment. "For the size it has a surprising separation of living space."

There is a separate living area to the dining and kitchen area (they upgraded the kitchen with a new black granite bench and the bathroom with a new vanity with a stone counter) and there's a roomy study/library area as well, plus there are two good sized bedrooms and the apartment comes with a carpark.

The living area is sunny with a big window to the pohutukawa trees out on the road, and the bedrooms are quite separate from each other.

Emad says space is important when you live together, work together and socialise together, plus they had a flatmate for the first couple of years and his girlfriend was often there.

But the apartment was a comfortable fit for four people, plus there is a surprising amount of storage space.

There is also a shared garden courtyard which is a peaceful spot.

"It's a nicely done sort of courtyard. It's a communal area where people sit and read a book if the weather is nice and there's a nice fountain there as well. It's quite charming."

Emad and Haseeb like how private and secure their apartment is. They travel a lot but all they have to do is lock the door and not worry.

And while they are steps from the vibe of Symonds St, the apartment itself is quiet.

"Citta itself, the apartment building, it's almost like it's on the crossroads of all these neighbourhoods, like Newmarket, Ponsonby, K Rd, and the city close by as well."

There are takeaways, restaurants and buses on their doorstep, including one to the airport: "We pretty much roll out our front door and there's a Sky bus right there."

They have also enjoyed being so close to the university, hospital, Domain and museum.

114/184 SYMONDS ST, EDEN TERRACE
• 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1 parking spaces.
• House 67sq m.
• Price: $620,000.
• Body corp: $4672 a year.
• Inspect: Sun 2-2.15pm, or by appointment.
• Auction: Oct 6, noon, on site (unless sold prior).
• Schools: Newmarket School and Kowhai Intermediate.
• Contact: Aaron Cook, 021 612 642, Holly Huang, 021 190 8088, Barfoot & Thompson, barfoot.co.nz/763533